Boat



R. W. MILLER Feb. 19, 1935.

l BOAT Filed Feb. 2; 1984 Patented Feb. 19, 19 35' UNITED *STATES PATENTOFFICE This invention relates to hoats, and an object is to provide animproved construction and arrangement of power driven'propellingmechanism forboats of any size from toys to full sized 5 craft.

This and other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in thisparticular art are accomplished by means of the invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which,

Pig. 1 is a tic plan view illustrative of one embodiment of thisinvention; i

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the features shown in Fig. 1;and

Pig. 3 is an end elevation of the stem of the boat illustrated in Figs.1 and 2.

As illustrated in the accompanying 'drawing} the a invention is shown inconnection with a hull 5 of any standard form of construction. Anysuitable source'of power 6 such as an internal combustion engine, orvthe like,l is adapted to drive the usual propeller '1 securedto apropeller shaft `8 which is driven through a suitable transmission 9.

On each side ofthe hull 5 a casing 10 is mounted preferably at about'the level of the water line or slighly below, and the casing may extenddownwardiy along the sides of the hull to any desired extent. The casing10 is arranged so as to providera water e 11 having a water intakeopeningmattheforwardendofeachpassage on opposite sides of the hull. Thepassages 11 extendaroimdthesternofthehull where they upon the propeller7 and the casing is so arranged that a discharge passage13thepropeller7andformsineifect a continuation of the es 11 so that thepropeller '1 is effective upon water iiowing'rearwardly through the es11 and drives the same outwar'dly through the dischargeoutlet 13. In theillustrated embodiment of the "invention, an auxlliary propeller 14 islocated in 'each water men forward Of fllt mneller 7- 'The'111xiliaryilmlleul' shafts 15 are driven from-the 9. The effect of theauxillary propellers is to draw water through the passage 11 anddrive itwith considerable force to .the propeller '1 in the discharge outlet 13.

It will be noted that the casing 10, as illustrated, extends'conslderably to the rear of the, hull 5 and constitutes an additionalload overhanging the stem. vIn order to prevent this load' fromincreasing the vdraft of the hull, an airw tight tank 16 is formedacrossjthe upper portion 'of the extended casing to increase thebuoyancy thereof.

In operation, water is drawn into the passageways 11 on each side of thehull and is forced rearwardly by the propellers 14 to the propeller 7which discharges it through the discharge outlet 13. The size and lengthof the-passages 11 can be varied and the'arrangement of propellers canalso be changed or modified in any practiceble manner. Sultable valves,not shown, may obviouslybe employed to shut water out of the passages 11and 13 when repairs are necessary, and grilles 17 or the like will besuitable at the inlets 12 to prevent extraneous materials,.such as woodor the like, from entering the passages and damaging the propellers orother parts.

It will be apparent that the invention can be variously modifled oradapted within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

The combination with a boat hull and a con- 30 ventionally arrangedpropeller of a casing located outside of said hull and cooperating withthe outer face of saidwhull to form a compartment enclosing the saidpropeller and providing. a discharge outlet astern of said propeller anda 3 water-containing chamber forward of said, propeller, inlets to saidcompartments on opposite sides of said hull, and means for forcing waterfrom said inlets into said chamber so as to maintain a pressure ofwater'in said chamber against said propeller to permit effectiveoperation of said propeller at high speed and prevent the formation of avacuum thereby.

BUDOLPH W. MILLER..

